Police Department Claims To Be Planning Mass Arrests at Street Takeovers

srt.rick414 Instagram screenshot (left) and MPD arrest photo (right). Images from MPD.

Milwaukee police say a series of late-night street takeovers across the city last weekend was likely carried out by a coordinated group, and they believe they’ve arrested the ringleader.

Social media activity was used to identify the individual.

“While his Instagram account says srt.rick, it probably stands for Street and Racing Technology. As of last night, it stands for ‘sorry Rick towed,'” said MPD Chief of Staff Heather Hough to the Public Safety & Health Committee Thursday.

The individual, whose identity MPD declined to disclose in a follow-up request because he has yet to be criminally charged, was arrested following an investigation of videos of the weekend events and past social media activity. His vehicle, a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (Street and Racing Technology), was impounded.

“Rick will be able to get that car back once he’s out of custody,” said Hough.

She highlighted the trail MPD used to connect the dots.

“On [his] Instagram, there are tons of pictures of the individual with different street racing cars … nothing to indicate they are using these for street takeovers. But this individual also has YouTube links to videos that showcase different street takeover events,” said Hough.

She referred to him as the “primary organizer” and said he is not a resident of Milwaukee, though his YouTube account shows an apartment at The Moderne as recently as one year ago.

MPD officials said nine takeovers occurred between 11 p.m. April 25 and 3 a.m. April 26, generating 17 calls for service — roughly 10% of the department’s total calls during that period. Additional takeovers occurred in the city of Glendale.

“We believe this was the same group of individuals,” said Inspector Sheronda Grant. She said the activity, which involves crowds gathering in intersections to watch a handful of vehicles drive in tight circles (commonly called drifting), strains department resources and is tough to corral because it frequently relocates before enough officers can amass to safely make arrests.

In addition to the arrest of srt.rick414 on Wednesday, MPD reported towing two vehicles, making one arrest at the scene and issuing seven citations, including one for reckless driving and two for spectating. The Common Council approved the spectator restriction last year to discourage street takeovers.

Authorities are also seeking criminal charges against one person accused of fleeing officers after a three-mile pursuit.

Inspector Paul Lough said investigators are making progress in identifying those involved and expect more accountability as cases develop. The publicly unidentified ringleader is to face a “serious felony” charge that he expects to be a warning to others.

“I’m very confident we’re going to be able to hold more and more people accountable as we move forward,” Lough said, citing improved investigative techniques, including the seizure of cell phones and cooperation from those arrested.

In addition to MPD’s arrests, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Illinois resident Allen Mendoza, 20, who was stopped and arrested Sunday morning after leading Glendale police on a high-speed chase.

The handful of arrests is a precursor to a mass arrest strategy that MPD officials plan to deploy in the coming weeks.

“We have robust plans to make mass arrests of these individuals,” said Grant. But she declined to identify those plans publicly. “We don’t want to advise the street takeover individuals what our goals are, what we’re going to do.”

Common Council President José G. Pérez said residents were concerned about the relatively few arrests that have occurred.

“It seems like it’s a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt, and that’s what we’re all trying to avoid,” said Pérez.

Police said the spontaneous and secretive nature of the events makes them difficult to prevent.

“The challenge of being proactive in these situations is we do not have the locations ahead of time,” Hough said, noting that participants are often “discreet” when sharing meetup locations.

Officials pointed to social media as a key factor in documenting the events. Lough called on the public to submit videos they see or record to ifc@milwaukee.gov. “There is one video that has really broken this open,” he said.

Officials urged residents to report incidents rather than record them.

“The time people take to put it on social media and film, it could be the time to call the police,” said Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, who also said she is interested in exploring whether social media platforms could face penalties for amplifying the activity.

At least one participant in the weekend takeovers can be seen displaying a plaque sent by YouTube to account holders who accumulate more than 100,000 followers. Srt.rick414 also posted vanity photos on Instagram with “50K” balloons above his car to celebrate accumulating 50,000 followers.

Those videos and photos, said the MPD representatives, help make arrests.

“We might not get to you right in the moment of the street takeover, but that doesn’t mean we’re not continuously looking into those events,” Hough said.

Lough said additional charges tied to broader criminal activity could emerge. “I am confident some of that will be coming forward in some of the charges we are dealing with,” he said, referencing potential links to drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession.

Council members, on behalf of their constituents, want to see MPD cut off the takeovers.

Ald. Peter Burgelis said the incidents have had a lasting impact.

“Sometimes really terrible,” Burgelis said, doubling down on Hough’s SRT joke. “I would like to see it changed to safe, responsible today.”

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